Amid the debate in Washington about whether TikTok should be banned if its Chinese owners won't sell it, one group is taking particular interest. Many brands, especially in the beauty, skin care, fashion, and health and wellness industries, have used video apps to increase sales.
Youthforia, a makeup brand with over 185,000 followers on TikTok, is considering moving more marketing to other platforms such as YouTube and Instagram. Underlining, the company behind the popular Nailboo brand, had planned to use TikTok to launch a product with major retailers in August, but is now wondering if it needs to change course. And BeautyStat, which sells skin care products on TikTok Shop, can't even fathom the idea of the platform disappearing.
TikTok is “so big, especially in beauty and certain industries, that I think it would be a shame to see it disappear,” said Yaso Murray, chief marketing officer at BeautyStat.
Companies and creators have known for years that TikTok could be at risk. But those concerns seem more likely now that the House of Representatives has passed a bill that would ban TikTok in the United States unless owner ByteDance sells it. (Progress on the bill in the Senate has slowed since last week's vote.)
Some lawmakers in Washington believe TikTok is a platform for Chinese government espionage. Parents are furious that it is rotting their children's brains. But many companies, large and small, are crediting TikTok and its influencer corps for getting their products in front of potential customers, especially younger ones.
Whether it's Sephora, Walmart, Target or Amazon, retailers have also benefited greatly from TikTok, said CEO and co-founder of Underlining & 10pm Curfew, a company that connects content creators and brands. Mr. Razvan Romanescu says:
“When something goes viral on TikTok, it sells out,” Romanescu said. “So it feels like the whole ecosystem is driven by the discoverability that TikTok provides.”
For some brands, TikTok has become an essential part of their marketing strategy and sales growth. That's partly because short videos are easier for consumers to understand, but also because marketing on the platform is relatively cheap for small brands. Launched last year, TikTok Shop allows shoppers to buy products directly on the app, and has been particularly popular among beauty and fashion brands.
“Before COVID-19, the beauty category was pretty much flat, growing probably by a few percentage points every year,” said Anna Mayo, vice president of beauty and personal care at research firm NIQ. But during the pandemic, when consumers had more free time and Zoom calls became more popular, beauty and skin care videos on TikTok exploded.
“Since then, the beauty industry has been looking to grow and hasn't slowed down,” Mayo said. “TikTok is a big driver of that growth.”
New products and clothing may be highlighted by individuals who are more relatable to the audience, as opposed to movie stars or models. Quick how-to videos show you how to best pair spring sweaters with jeans, and the order in which you apply toner, serum, moisturizer, and sunscreen in his morning skincare routine. Some people prefer to go to TikTok instead of Google when shopping.
Miqueila Nogueira, a 25-year-old influencer who started making TikTok videos four years ago, says, “My first video was a makeup tutorial that showed how to use three products to perfectly hide acne.” he said. “In just 60 seconds, you learned a new skill.”
That's when Nogueira had some free time after the pandemic shut down classes and the Ulta Beauty store where she worked closed. Currently, she has 15.5 million followers on her TikTok and regularly collaborates with beauty and skincare brands.
While large companies can spend marketing dollars on a variety of sites, TikTok offers a more affordable advertising channel than platforms like Google and Meta, which owns Instagram.
“This platform is very unique for a direct-to-consumer business like ours,” says Nadia Okamoto, who started posting TikTok videos about her company August’s organic menstrual products in the summer of 2021.
First, TikTok's “For You” feed consistently puts August's videos in front of new consumers, rather than those who choose to follow the brand on other social media platforms like Instagram. Second, the platform allows Mr. Okamoto to become the chief creator of his content within the company.
“While other brands spend hundreds of thousands of dollars each month on advertising, we spend very little,” she said.
When asked about a possible ban on TikTok, Fiona Ko Chan, co-founder and CEO of Euphoria, said: “I don't know if there's anything that will fill the void in the same way. ” he said.
TikTok founder Chelsea Hirshhorn said Frida will be able to talk about her company's baby and postpartum products in ways that are taboo on other advertising and social media platforms. Told. The brand is a relative latecomer to the app's active users, having started posting more about it about a year ago, but has around 123,000 followers and several videos that have gone viral.
Still, Hirschhorn said there are legitimate concerns about TikTok disappearing or changing in some way, and that Frieda is not overly reliant on the app. The company uses both traditional forums (currently sold in 4,000 Walmart stores in the U.S.) and more creative methods (such as sponsoring Jason Kelce's pregnant wife, Kylie, when the Philadelphia Eagles played in the Super Bowl). ) and figured out how to advertise both. last year).
“I think it is very important for brands to have a complete and robust marketing plan across various media channels, both traditional and emerging media, to overcome all the challenges that are expected in the future,” Hirsh said. Horn said.
While some companies are working on contingency plans for new products, others are watching and hoping that legislators won't ban the platform.
“I think a lot of brands are suddenly going to see a huge hole in sales, so I'm trying not to get too alarmed by everything that's going on,” Murray said at Beautystat. She added: “It would be very damaging.”